In a warehouse, in which it is common to locate a storage rack next to a wall or next to another rack, a fire in a stored load can spread easily through such a rack and from one rack to another. Thus, it is common to install fire extinguishing systems, which employ fire extinguishing devices in close proximity to the stored loads. If the rack beams are located within the spraying patterns created by the fire extinguishing devices, the rack beams tend to deflect the fire extinguishing fluid away from the stored loads.
An improved system comprising a storage rack and a fire extinguishing device is disclosed in all but the first of the related applications noted above and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,917, which issued from a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/095,607, supra. In the improved system, the storage rack includes a beam having an inclined surface, which faces outwardly and downwardly and is inclined at an angle in a range from about 10.degree. to about 80.degree. relative to a vertical plane. When the fire extinguishing device is discharging a fluid, if at least some of the discharged fluid impinges upon the inclined surface, the inclined surface deflects at least some of the impinging fluid downwardly and inwardly.